


Mark 43

by TheGreatCatsby



Series: If You Take Things Apart [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-19
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Loki have a long overdue conversation about their past few encounters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mark 43

As far as important things went, the location of the Tesseract, one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe, was pretty much the top of the list. 

But considering the Tesseract was in a time loop, Tony didn’t exactly feel the need to tell SHIELD about it. Nor did he feel like explaining how he’d come across that information, because every time he thought of an explanation in his head, it sounded suspiciously like betrayal. 

And even though what Tony had done, setting Loki free, had yielded results and most certainly wasn’t betrayal, he knew everyone else wouldn’t see it that way. They’d just think Tony was batshit insane and he’d probably get kicked off the Avengers and put on SHIELD’s shit list. Or something. 

So while SHIELD scrambled to figure out what had gone wrong in their plan and how to fix it, Tony did nothing. 

At some point, Bruce found himself alone with Tony and he brought it up by saying, “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened with the whole Loki situation, would you?” 

And Tony replied, “Nope,” and they both knew he was lying but the conversation pretty much stopped there. Bruce could figure it out. Bruce was smart. He also wasn’t going to tell anyone because Bruce was his science buddy, and science buddies stuck together. 

And, to be honest, Tony thought it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass because he thought he’d never see Loki again. That kind of thinking usually got people in trouble. Tony had thought that the whole New York alien invasion wouldn’t be back to bite him in the ass and he ended up having panic attacks about it a year later, and making forty-two versions of his prized Iron Man suit. Then his house was destroyed. 

Tony didn’t have a good track record of not being bitten in the ass when it came to villains. 

He was just glad nobody else had noticed. 

(They did notice but were kind enough not to mention it.) 

So when Tony saw Loki considering the window display of carved meat at a shawarma shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, he, to put it not so mildly, flipped a shit. 

It could only get better from there. 

**

What happened was this: Tony spotted Loki. Tony recognized that Loki was standing in front of his favorite shawarma spot, in fact the very spot he’d taken the Avengers to eat after the whole alien invasion of New York fiasco. And that pretty much sent him over the edge. He ran over and grabbed Loki’s arm and pulled him into an adjacent alleyway that smelled a bit like old meat and piss. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tony hissed as he pushed Loki against a wall. A small part of his brain was aware that Loki was letting him because ordinarily Loki wouldn’t allow this, but he ignored that part of his brain. “SHIELD’s looking everywhere for you and you’re just standing in the middle of the sidewalk in the city you nearly destroyed?” 

“Thor talked much of this place when he brought me to Asgard,” Loki said, looking the picture of unruffled. “I don’t see the appeal, personally.”

“Oh, are you ready to admit Thor’s your brother again?” Tony snapped. 

Loki glared at him and pushed him away, walking a few paces further down the alleyway. Tony noted that he was wearing a suit and looked a bit like a businessman. He hated to think it, but Loki would have blended in had he not been, well, Loki. 

“Was that mean?” Tony asked. “Because even if it was, I’m not taking it back.” 

Loki’s expression was positively burning, but at this point Tony figured he’d lived through enough to survive a dirty look. Even if that dirty look led to physical harm. 

“You are foolish,” Loki said, finally. 

“I never said I was anything but,” Tony told him with a smile. “But seriously, what are you doing here? Do you want to get captured?” 

“I’m trying to figure out why certain…people treasure this planet,” Loki said. “The food is nothing special.” 

“It isn’t about the food,” Tony said. “And why?” 

“I have been busy. I need time to myself.” 

“So you’re playing tourist instead of destroyer this time,” Tony concluded. “Good. That’s, um, good. But you’re pretty much a wanted man.” 

Loki smirked. “Oh am I?” 

Tony knew that smirk. He hated that smirk on other people. “Not like that. Just that everyone here wants to kill you. You know.” 

“Ah. The usual, then.” 

“Oh, come on. There must be some planet you’re not wanted on.” Loki stared at him. Tony swallowed. “No? Okay then.” 

Loki laughed, suddenly. It wasn’t evil-sounding or anything, which took Tony by surprise. “There are some planets that don’t count me as an enemy. But this is the one I’m most curious about.” 

“Because you tried to rule it and you want to see what you missed out on?” Tony asked. “Or because you want to rule it again?” 

“Because I am curious,” Loki said. “I want to see what makes this planet so worthwhile.” 

“You should’ve done that before you tried to take over,” Tony pointed out. 

Loki stared at him again. 

“Fine,” Tony said. “You want a vacation? I can show you one. I have a mansion in Malibu. Now, Malibu isn’t like New York City. It’s on a beach. It’s nice. There’s less people, sure, but it’s peaceful. Like, relaxing and stuff.” 

“Is that so,” Loki said, moving closer. 

Tony stood his ground. “Yeah. You know. Just rebuilt it a few months ago. It was destroyed, actually. You wouldn’t know about that. But I have money, people, they took care of it. I thought I wouldn’t need it because I’ve got this place and other places but turns out I do need a waterfront home and I liked it, it’s got lots of space and a change of scenery so I had them rebuild because Tony Stark doesn’t just give up his property when it gets destroyed-“

“Show me,” Loki said. 

“What?” 

Loki grabbed his arm and everything disappeared-

-and reappeared. Except not the same things. 

Tony staggered and hit a wall. A wall in his mansion. A cream-colored wall in his mansion. He turned around and found himself staring out a floor-to-ceiling window at the ocean. Loki stood a few feet away. 

“Sir, I would like to point out that there is a criminal with you at the moment,” Jarvis intoned. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s fine for now,” Tony gasped. 

“Are you sure, sir?” Jarvis asked. He sounded concerned. Tony swore that the AI was getting more human-like by the day. 

“I’m sure.” Tony finally extracted himself from the wall and stepped forward. Loki was staring at the ocean with something like awe. 

“Your planet is round,” he said after a moment. 

“Yeah, sure is,” Tony said. “Most planets are.” 

“Mmm,” was Loki’s response. 

Tony went over to the bar, because he figured that Loki would also want to experience alcohol at some point and, even if he didn’t, Tony definitely wanted to experience alcohol. He downed two shots of whiskey before Loki stopped staring at the ocean and made his way over. Tony poured him a glass, which Loki took but didn’t drink. 

“It’s good,” Tony said, downing a third drink. 

“I don’t quite believe you,” Loki said. He sounded more subdued than usual. Or perhaps this was because Tony was used to Loki being a drama queen. Or maybe it was because they were the only two people in this building. Tony suddenly realized how far away everyone else was. 

“Fuck,” he said out loud, because the alcohol was getting to him. He flexed his hand and wished for his suit, and he had been getting better about wishing for his suit in non-battle situations. 

“Pardon?” Loki said, still holding the glass that was still full of golden liquid. 

“Nothing,” Tony said. He looked into his drink (fifth? The situation called for at least six) and frowned. “No, actually, we never really talked about it.” 

“About what?” 

“The invasion. You know, when you killed everyone.” 

“That is an exaggeration, Stark,” Loki said. “I didn’t kill everyone. You and your team live.” 

“And yeah, the world’s not empty but that’s not the point,” Tony said. “The point is, you’re on the list of Things That Have Royally Fucked Me Up.” 

Loki actually took a sip of his drink at this. “How so?” 

Tony was slightly annoyed that he didn’t seem to be affected by the strong taste of the alcohol. “I flew into space, into fucking space, and nearly died in that void because of you, just to fix the mess you created, and I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t go anywhere without my suit. I was messed up. I was terrified. I had nightmares and it’s all because you had to come here-“

“The void,” Loki repeated. 

Tony thought he looked paler but didn’t stop. “I almost couldn’t function. I wasn’t functioning properly. Because I thought of dying, all alone in the blackness with nothing but those Chitauri ships and the corpses of aliens floating around me.” 

Clint’s response to that, Tony remembered, was, “Well, at least it wouldn’t have bothered you because you’d have been dead.” 

Clint wasn’t a good therapist. Even Bruce, who didn’t really listen, was better. Marginally. 

But Loki was the best, if only for the simple reason that finally, Tony could blame someone. He could lay it on thick. He couldn’t be angry about his experience to Pepper, or Rhodey, or to the other Avengers. But this had been Loki’s fault and he wanted Loki to know that it had hurt. That it had consequences. 

“I could’ve lived without that experience,” Tony added. “I could’ve lived without the nightmares and the panic attacks. And I’m good, now, sure. I destroyed my suits and got over my fears and all this other crap. But still. It happened. Are you even sorry about that? Are you even sorry about the people you killed? Because you come to me and talk to me like, I don’t know, like Thor talks to me and you’re not Thor. You don’t even deserve to talk to me like Thor does, like you did nothing. And that’s not okay with me, because you did. You did something horrible.” 

Loki was silent for a few moments, his face emotionless. Tony thought about saying more but managed to keep silent. 

Then, “I have been punished for my wrongs,” Loki murmured. 

“Like hell you have,” Tony snapped. “You’re not rotting away in Asgard. You escaped and got to do whatever.” 

“We’re more alike than you admit, Stark,” Loki said. 

Tony slammed down his glass, nearly breaking it. “The fuck does that mean?” 

Loki placed his glass gently on the bar and turned away from him. He began making his way towards the window. Tony followed him on unsteady feet. Beyond them, the ocean extended towards the horizon, a deep blue abyss. 

“Asgard is flat,” Loki said after a moment, voice flat, as though he were reciting something. “There is an ocean that meets the land, but where that ocean ends on the horizon is a waterfall. And whatever travels past the edge falls down forever, into the void.” A pause. “I used to think the void was empty, but it is full of many things. There isn’t nothingness. Nothingness would be a blessing.” 

Tony tried to process this. Loki was talking like he’d been in the void, but-

“Asgard is flat,” was all Tony could say. 

Loki regarded him with a slightly amused quirk of his lips, before he became serious again. “I can’t be what I was, Stark,” Loki said. “I have been shaped by my experience. I can’t take back what I did. I can’t regret it. You can either accept that, or not. But this is your choice.” 

“Why would I accept it?” Tony asked. “Why does it matter?” 

Loki shrugged. 

“If I accepted that,” Tony added, “that doesn’t mean I’d be accepting anything you did in the future. You know, I can’t condone that sort of thing. I used to kill people for a living, sort of, but I can’t do that anymore. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. And I can’t associate myself with that kind of thing.” 

“You assume I’m coming back.” 

“Are you?” 

Loki watched him. “Perhaps,” he said. “You are someone different.”

“You like different?” 

“Perhaps I need it.” 

Tony swallowed. “What happened to you? The thing that made you the way you are?” 

“I’m sure you already know,” Loki said. 

And then he disappeared. 

“It appears you are alone, sir,” Jarvis said. 

“Thanks for that. I had no idea.” Tony downed his drink. He couldn’t feel his nose. “Jarvis, did you get a reading on Loki’s appearance and disappearance?” 

“Of course, sir. I have downloaded them to your computer.” 

“Great. Now, let’s find out how he did it.” 

Tony made his way to the workshop.


End file.
